Propelling the Global Advancement of School Mental Health.

Rates of mental health problems and disorders in children and youth have been increasing for at least three decades, and these have escalated due to the pandemic and multiple other societal stressors. It is increasingly recognized that students and families frequently struggle to receive needed care through traditional locations such as specialty mental health centers. Upstream mental health promotion and prevention strategies are gaining support as a public health approach to supporting overall population well-being, better utilizing a limited specialty workforce, and reducing illness. Based on these recognitions, there has been a progressive and escalating movement toward the delivery of mental health support to children and youth "where they are," with a prominent and more ecologically valid environment being schools. This paper will provide a brief review of the escalating mental health needs of children and youth, advantages of school mental health (SMH) programs in better meeting these needs, example model SMH programs from the United States and Canada, and national and international SMH centers/networks. We conclude with strategies for further propelling the global advancement of the SMH field through interconnected practice, policy, and research.

Tying together research and practice: using ROPE for successful partnerships in school mental health.

There is solid evidence for strategies and programs that, if implemented with fidelity in schools, will enhance the mental health of children and youth. These practices are, however, inconsistently applied and rarely evaluated programmatically in every day practice. In recent years, implementation variables that influence uptake have received attention. An emerging area of interest is the role that research partnerships might play in narrowing the gap between science and practice. Drawing on the literature and practice examples, collaborators from the United States and Canada explore the role of partnerships in bringing the worlds of research and practice closer into alignment.